A New Generation

“We’re one and the same. Same heart, same blood!”–Fives, Star Wars: The Clone Wars

The Galactic Republic’s clone troopers are some of the finest soldiers the Star Wars™ galaxy has ever seen. But even the best troops can be limited by the equipment they carry—and wear—into battle. To get the most out of its clones, then, the Republic gradually replaced the uncomfortable armor worn by its earliest batches of clones with a more advanced design that helped bring out their individual strengths.

Not only did this Phase II clone armor allow for Republic forces to use advanced tactical gear in the field, the clones wearing it were more prepared for the rigors of battle. Soon, you’ll be able to supplement your Republic armies with this new generation of clone troopers by picking up the Phase II Clone Troopers Unit Expansionfor Star Wars™: Legion!

Within this expansion, you’ll find everything you need to add an elite new corps unit to your Galactic Republic armies. Seven hard plastic Phase II Clone Trooper miniatures stand ready to meet any enemy on the battlefield, including a Phase II Z-6 Trooper and a Phase II Mortar Trooper that can be customized in several ways.

You can choose to assemble your Phase II Clone Trooper Leader and Z-6 Clone Trooper with or without their helmets, and the Z-6 Clone Trooper’s heavy weapon can be replaced with the standard DC-15A blaster rifle to add even more variety to the look of your army. Finally, you can build your Phase II Mortar Trooper with the mortar stowed on his back or deployed on the ground, as well as with his visor up or down.

Read on to see more of what to expect in the Phase II Clone Troopers Unit Expansion!

More Than Expendable

Even with countless clone troopers at its disposal, the Galactic Republic cannot hope to match the pure numbers of the Separatist Alliance’s massive droid armies. Each and every clone trooper in the Grand Army of the Republic is far from expendable and, as a result, they need armor that will protect them from the hazards of the battlefield. It is only natural, then, for Phase II clone armor to be introduced when the original design proved more of a hinderance to those who wore it.

Beyond granting clone troopers a greater range of movement, Phase II clone armor marks a technological leap forward for the Republic, allowing the clones to carry a more diverse range of equipment into battle. Unlike their predecessors, then, units of Phase II Clone Troopers can bring a powerful mortar launcher into battle for a potent long-range option. This weapon may be cumbersome to lug across the battlefield, but its attacks have a better chance of hitting targets that may be ducking behind cover. What’s more, taking fire from a mortar takes an extra toll even on droids, quickly bringing them closer to panicking and fleeing the battle altogether.

Far more than simply adding a new heavy weapon to the Phase II Clone Troopers' arsenal, the mortar launcher neatly synergizes with their natural abilities. This new generation of clones retain the ability to boost a friendly unit’s attack with some fire support. But their new armor also makes them more reliable than ever, especially when firing their mortar. This reliability extends beyond a single weapon, however. It can also help a Z-6 Phase II Trooper hit their targets more often, or even enhance a standard Phase II Clone Trooper that is reinforcing a standard four-man unit.

In addition to enhancing their offensive output, Phase II armor also gives the clones the freedom of movement they need to avoid enemy fire, and some extra gear can make them even more prepared for battle. Some Grappling Hooks, for example, can put them in an advantageous position to open fire. Furthermore, on top of their swarms of battle droids, the Separatists frequently make use of heavily armored troops and vehicles in their engagements, making some Impact Grenades an invaluable addition to the Phase II Clone Trooper’s toolkit.

Despite the many advantages it provides, their armor isn't actually the most meaningful difference between Phase II Clone Troopers and earlier generations. These troops have weathered the early parts of the Clone Wars and this experience makes them more prepared to face the stress of combat. What's more, Phase II Clone Troopers have had the time to undergo additional training, granting them even more flexibility on the battlefield. If they are trained to go on Overwatch, for instance, they can quickly react to enemy movements, perhaps even setting up deadly ambushes or trapping enemy units in barrages of fire support.

Ready for Deployment

Clone Troopers are dedicated to the cause of the Republic—no matter the cost. With upgraded armor, weapons, and gear, they’ll be ready to confront the Separatist threat head-on!

Legion 101

Getting Into the Infantry Battles of a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Star Wars™: Legionis more than just a tabletop war game. It's an entire hobby with a community dedicated to collecting, painting, and customizing miniatures from both the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War. Today, we're proud to introduce a new series of articles from members of the community, focusing on all aspects of this engrossing hobby. In this first entry, Kevin Valliere gives an overview of what Legion is and how you can begin building your collection today!

Everything is quiet, then chaos erupts! Blaster bolts ricochet off nearby walls as your unit scrambles for cover. You return fire, hoping to create a distraction, but it only serves to embolden the approaching enemy. Then, cutting through the battle, the sound of a lightsaber igniting. Your unit almost panics in fear as the saber’s glow peeks around the corner but your fears are allayed by the sound of another ignition, this time from behind you. A Jedi has your back. The fight is on.

Welcome to the world of Star Wars: Legion!

Begun, the Clone Wars Have

First released in March of 2018, the tabletop miniatures game Star Wars: Legion has recently launched its third and fourth factions into the game. Now, the Separatists and Republic forces join the Empire and the Rebellion as playable armies.

Star Wars: Legion is an exciting combination of game and hobby that provides hours upon hours of entertainment at home or in your friendly local game store. But if you’ve never played a tabletop wargame before—or if you’re coming from another one and want to learn more about what makes Legion unique—then you’ve come to the right place.

In the forthcoming series of articles we’ve dubbed “Star Wars: Legion Basics,” we’ll be exploring what exactly Legion is and how you, too, can join the fight.

To start, let’s take a look at what you can expect when you first start getting into this rewarding hobby.

Objective-Based Gameplay

At its core, of course, Star Wars: Legion is a game about war.

In each match, you and one opponent will vie for supremacy with an army assembled around certain criteria (which we’ll touch on in a later article). But it’s not just about wholesale destruction, no—Legion is an objective-based game.

Two matches with the same armies on each side can look totally different depending on which objectives, conditions, and deployment layouts are drafted from the provided battle deck. Perhaps you and your opponent are running Intercept the Transmissions, where the primary goal is to claim ownership of a series of three beacons strewn about the battlefield. Or perhaps you choose Breakthrough, in which you must try to move as many of your units as possible to your opponent’s deployment zone before the end of the match.

Now, add to that other factors: what if you’re in a Hostile Environment, where not being in contact with a piece of terrain has potentially negative consequences. Maybe the foggy battlefield provides some Limited Visibility, hampering your long-range guns. Or perhaps factors beyond your control have caused your battlefield deployment to be in Disarray, splitting your army in two.

How do you adapt to the situation? How do you overcome your opponent? These questions and more are key to the gameplay at Legion’s heart, and help make sure that every single game of Star Wars: Legion feels fresh and unique.

Hobby Fun For All

But Star Wars: Legion is much more than just a game, indeed, it’s a hobby!

Before you put your completed armies on the battlefield, you’ll want to assemble and customize them in whatever way you see fit. Each Star Wars: Legion Core Set and expansion comes with wonderfully sculpted miniatures that make the Star Wars galaxy come alive on your tabletop, and it’s up to you to decide how you want to stylize them.

Do you want movie accurate Stormtroopers? Excellent! Don’t forget the black strip just above their eyes, it’s easy to miss. But what about a unit with all black armor and red accents? Done and done! The only limit is your creativity. You can give the new General Kenobi commander his classic blue lightsaber, or a fun new color. The choice is yours.

What’s more, you’ll have the chance to flex your creative muscles by painting up terrain expansions like the Downed AT-ST.

And you don’t need to be an accomplished painter or hobbyist to tackle these minis. With just a bit of practice your minis can look table-ready and intimidating. I should know—Star Wars: Legion was my first tabletop wargame, after all!

What Lies Ahead

In the coming weeks, my friends Zach Barry, L.J. Peña, and I will be guiding you through everything you need to know to get started with Star Wars: Legion.

We’ll look at the game’s mechanics from starting to finishing a complete game, and then we’ll look over basic strategy (including building a fully formed army) for each of the two new Clone Wars Core Set factions.

But first, we’re going to take a look at what happens before your miniatures ever hit the table: priming, painting, and detailing. For total beginners to the hobby, this will be a great place to begin looking at what it takes to create a table-ready miniature (and I promise that it’s easier than you might think).

Legion 101: Getting Into the Hobby

Kevin Valliere Discusses Miniatures as a Hobby

Our community-driven series of articles covering the basics of Star Wars™: Legioncontinues with today's entry from Kevin Valliere. Here, Kevin demystifies what can be one of the largest barriers of entry for new players: assembling, constructing, and painting your miniatures. Whether you strive for movie-accurate versions of iconic units or are creating a unique look for your army, join him as he breaks down the steps you can take to bring your armies to life!

In the last article, we talked about why Star Wars: Legion is such an exciting hobby to start.

But what if you’ve never assembled or painted a miniature before? It can seem quite intimidating to learn and purchase everything you need at first, but it’s really quite a simple process to go from spare parts to a table-ready miniature. In this article, we’ll take a look at exactly what that process looks like!

Step 1: Assemble and Prime

To begin, we’ll need to assemble our miniatures.

For the Republic forces (just like for the Empire and Rebellion), all we need to do is dry fit the various parts together to make sure they fit (using the instructions provided in every Core Set and expansion), then use any old super glue to secure them to the main body. Easy is as easy does.

The Separatist forces, however, introduced a new, harder plastic for Star Wars: Legion minis that, while it allows the creation of miniatures with long thin pieces, like B1 Battle Droids, does require a bit more careful assembly. These miniatures come on sprues, or plastic sheets used in the molding process. Assembling them takes a bit longer, as you’ll need some clippers to cut them out of the plastic mold, and then you’ll want to use a plastic glue to fuse the plastic together. Both methods are easy to do with just a little bit of practice.

Once all of your miniatures are assembled, go to a well-ventilated area and prime them. Generally speaking, a white or grey primer works really well for these specific miniatures. While it’s possible to paint up to nice white armor from a black prime, you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble if you just start with a lighter primer. You can either go ahead and glue your miniatures to their bases before priming, or secure them with a sticky putty and glue them on later.

To prime well, hold the can about a foot away from the miniature, then do a gentle sweeping motion in one direction, only briefly holding down the nozzle. This will give you a light, even coat over the whole model (and help prevent you from losing any cool details).

Let everything dry, then move on to step two.

Step 2: Color Block

Before we get too detailed with our models, we want to make sure we get the overall color scheme right. Start by identifying how many colors you’ll need (it may be just one or two, or as high as ten and up for more detailed and colorful figures). Then, using one color at a time, paint your miniatures without worrying too much about precision. This will be our base coat.

Since we want to water down our paints (so they don’t go on too thickly and show brush strokes), it may take a few layers of color blocking to get a good, smooth color. This is normal! White especially can be finicky, so don’t worry if it takes a bit longer to get to the color you want. For the traditional tan of the Separatist droids, it may take fewer.

As you go layer by layer, clean up your lines and make sure the details are nice and clear. Is the blaster clearly separate from the hand holding it? Have the lines on your trooper’s helmet bled over into the white space?

Don’t worry too much about perfection, especially for your first few minis. What we’re going for is “table ready” miniatures—that is, we just want them to look decent from arm’s length. It’s OK if some details get lost in the mix.

Some of you may choose to stop right here, and that’s fine! If the gameplay is more important to you than the painting, you’ll already have achieved a great product just by getting paint on plastic.

But if you’d like to know a few more ways to make your minis stand out, keep reading.

Step 3: Shade & Highlight

To really give your miniatures an added level of quality, we can do two more easy things.

First, take what’s called a “wash” (think of it like a super-thinned down dark color) and apply it to your mini, taking care to wipe it off the tops of areas or any flat and smooth areas. This wash should run naturally into the cracks and crevices of your miniatures, giving them some really nice shadows that help the brighter colors stand out.

Second, for highlighting, put a bit of paint that’s lighter than the color you want to highlight on a wide, flat brush. Dab that brush generously on a paper towel, getting most of the paint off. Then, gently, flick the brush back and forth over the tips and peaks of your miniature. If you’ve gotten enough of the paint off, this will just catch the edges and give a really nice highlighting effect that takes seconds over the more complicated methods.

Step 4: Base

Once the miniature itself has been painted, it’s time to base.

There are a number of ways you can accomplish this, and it will ultimately depend on how much time and effort you want to put into your mini. You could easily paint your whole base one color (black looks great, unsurprisingly) just to give it a nice, clean look.

Or you could go to your local hobby shop and purchase basing textures and foliage to give your base a forest feel or a desert feel. The sky’s the limit! And don’t forget: you can always go back and do a base later if you just start off by painting it one color now.

Step 5: Protect

Finally, we want to protect our miniatures.

There are a number of matte varnishes you can buy as a spray can that work wonderfully. Go to a well-ventilated area, give the can a good shake, and use the same technique I mentioned in the priming section.

Matte varnish will give your miniatures a flat finish, so if you want shiny armor you may choose to go back with some paint-on gloss varnish to give it some shine again.

Doing all of this will make sure that not only do your miniatures look great, but that they stay looking great throughout all of the handling and transport you’ll need to do.

And with that, you’ve got everything you need to know to take you miniatures from zero to hero. But whether that’s hero of the Republic or hero of the Separatists is up for you to decide!

Coming up in our next article, we’ll start to talk about the next step: what happens when you throw your painted minis on the battlefield and kick off a game of Star Wars: Legion.

Legion 101: Mechanics, Part I

Zachary Barry Outlines the Basic Principles of Star Wars: Legion

Now that Kevin has got you started with Legion 101 and the hobby aspects of Star Wars™: Legion, it’s now time to go over the core mechanics of the game. The four topics that we want to go over today are Army Requirements, Terrain, Defining the Battlefield and Deployment!

Army Requirements

In a standard game of Star Wars: Legion, you build an army of units, and the army of units that you build has requirements as well as restrictions. For starters, you have 800 points to spend on the units in your army. Within those 800 points, you have to follow the guidelines shown below from the Rules Reference:

As you may notice, you must include certain units in your army, such as one commander and three corps units, in order to create a legal, standard list. Once you have met those requirements, you can build the rest of the list to your liking! Star Wars: Legion is a great example of a game that allows your army construction to be guided by you and what you want to play. Think of all of the great units you can put in a list together and feel the nostalgia of Star Wars!

Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Stormtroopers, and the Imperial Royal Guard all come to my mind when thinking of Imperials. But maybe you want to resist the Empire and put the likes of Luke Skywalker, General Leia Organa, Chewbacca, and Rebel Troopers on the table to bring peace back to the galaxy! Perhaps you bought the new Clone Wars factions and want General Kenobi or Count Dooku on the battlefield! No matter what faction you decide to start collecting, Star Wars: Legion will always be an infantry-based objectives style game and the army that you put on the table will be the biggest key component!

Terrain

Now that you've put your army together, we need to talk about the battlefield that it'll fight on. The terrain your army fights on presents unique challenges and opportunities for every battle and Star Wars: Legion can accomodate just about anything you can add to your board, from model train trees to wooden blocks. In fact, you can even build your own custom terrain from craft supplies to add your own personal touch to your battlefields. No matter what you choose, the terrain you fight on can effect your army in several ways. First, it provides them with valuable cover they can duck behind to avoid enemy fire. At the same time, however, cover can also hinder your units' movement, preventing them from reaching their objectives as quickly.

As so many types of terrain can be added to your battlefields, it's important that you and your opponent agree on the exact effects of each type of terrain before you begin. If you have any questions about terrain, be sure to check out the Star Wars: Legion Rules Reference here. It should give you a better sense of how to determine the effects of each piece of terrain.

Once your troops enter combat, they'll be doing more than just blasting away at one another. The terrain you choose will also affect how they approach their objectives. Next, we'll take a look at defining the battlefield.

Defining the Battlefield

You have your 800 point army ready. You have a friend with their 800 point army ready. What’s next? Putting together a battlefield (also referred to as a map at times)!

As noted in the reference guide pictures above, there are certain ways to define terrain across the battlefield. Take the barricades that you received in your Core Set, which are typically found on almost every Star Wars: Legion battlefield—those are always considered heavy cover. Then, of course, you may have some light terrain across the map, and perhaps some big items like trees and buildings. Perhaps your table has some sort of creek or river on it, and it seems like it could potentially be difficult terrain. I bring up all these options because the battlefield actually gets determined and built by you, the players! When the terrain is all laid out, you and your opponent have a friendly discussion over the battlefield to define the pieces on the table. It’s so simple even a Wampa could do it!

On top of defining the terrain, there are also the battle cards. Your Core Set will come with four cards for each category: condition cards, objective cards, and deployment cards. The starting player separates the cards by type, shuffles them up, and lays three of each facedown on the table. Once the cards are in place, you'll flip them over and see what options are in front of you. The starting player now has the first “veto," eliminating the leftmost card in whatever category they choose. Once each player decides on their two vetoes, it's time to deploy. Below is a perfect example of how defining the battlefield operates:

Deployment

The final step before the game begins is deployment—which we'll briefly explain using the battle cards from the scenario pictured above. The objective is Breakthrough and the conditions are clear. Deployment in this scenario happens to be Battle Lines:

As you can see in both the blue section and the red section, there is a little circle with the number 1 inside of it. In your Core Set, you will find a set of range rulers. A single section of those range rulers measures the distance known as “Range 1.” With this in mind, you now can see that your deployment zone stretches across the length of the table and then up the table to “Range 1” from the table edge. Battle Lines is a simple deployment card to start understanding how deployment zones work. Now that you marked the table accordingly, each player will start to place their miniatures on the table until every unit has been placed.

You now know everything to assemble your army and set up your battlefield. You're ready to start your first game of Star Wars: Legion! Join us next time as we take a closer look at what to expect when you enter combat for the first time!

New and Improved

"With these new battle droids we built for you, you'll have the finest army in the galaxy."
–Wat Tambor: Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

The droid foundries on Geonosis are the heart of the Separatist war machine, producing a seemingly never-ending supply of droids to fight on the many fronts of the Clone Wars. While B1 Battle Droids may be the main focus of production, these foundries can produce a diverse array of products to fit the Separatist's needs, including the terrifying B2 Super Battle Droids.

Within this expansion, you’ll find six beautifully detailed, unpainted hard plastic B2 Super Battle Droid miniatures, along with a unit card and all the tokens you need to seamlessly integrate them into your army. In addition to four B2 Super Battle Droids outfitted with the standard arm cannons, two heavy weapon miniatures can bolster the unit with new ways to fire. Finally, five upgrade cards unlock even more possibilities for these intimidating droids.

Join us today as we take a closer look at everything included in the B2 Super Battle Droids Unit Expansion!

Mechanical Monstrosities

The Separatist Alliance’s vast legions of B1 Battle Droids are sure to intimidate any opponent who faces them in open combat. But when they truly need a target eliminated, Separatist commanders send in B2 Super Battle Droids. True heavy hitters, these droids provide the Separatist military with an advantage beyond superior numbers. Although they operate in smaller groups than their B1 counterparts, B2 Super Battle Droids more than make up for this with their heavy firepower and great resiliency. Laying down powerful blaster fire twice as fast as other battle droids, a squad of three B2s can make short work of any enemy in their path.

Fortunately for B2 Super Battle Droids, this extra bulk also helps them become one of the most survivable corps units on the battlefield. Not only does their thick plating allow them to take more shots before going down, it also negates some fire altogether, leaving them free to continue their menacing march toward their objective.

With such powerful innate abilities, B2 Super Battle Droids require little improvement to draw enemy fire and open up opportunities for other Separatist units to complete their tasks. Simply adding another B2 Super Battle Droid to a unit makes it all the more threatening, but B2 units can also be assigned two different heavy weapons that dramatically increase their offensive capabilities.

Already powerful on their own, a unit of B2 Super Battle Droids is made even better with the addition of a B2-ACM Trooper. These troopers possess a powerful and accurate tri-shot arm cannon that helps them cut through enemy units more quickly. While a B2-ACM Trooper is a rather straightforward way to increase your unit’s firepower, a B2-HA Trooper adds some depth to its unit, giving it even more ways to deal damage.

Nearly matching the offensive output of the ACM Trooper, the B2-HA Trooper can also attack from longer range, softening up a target before its fellow B2s move in. Better yet, cover is no help to enemy units going up against a B2-HA Trooper, and the rockets they fire are powerful enough to crack even the toughest armor. Making use of such raw power does drain a B2-HA Trooper, but they can quickly cycle through and regain full functionality. Like other battle droid models, B2 Super Battle Droids are limited by AI that compels them to attack in the absence of other orders from command. Fortunately, they can also be outfitted with a variety of comms systems that help to override this set of programming. A simple Integrated Comms Antenna gives them a larger operating range, but this does not guarantee that they will be issued orders. When you need to ensure your B2 Super Battle Droids have their orders, it’s better to outfit them with an HQ Uplink.

March Into Battle

The Republic's clone troopers are renowned as some of the finest soldiers anywhere in the galaxy, but they may have met their match in B2 Super Battle Droids.

On the Hunt

The Galactic Republic’s military is based on flexibility. Anchored by battalions of highly trained clone troopers and led by powerful Jedi Knights ready to use their mastery of the Force to accomplish their objectives, they form a versatile force capable of fighting on any planet in the galaxy. Consequently, when the Grand Army of the Republic deploys vehicles to the fight, it turns to a tank that’s just as flexible as the troops it supports.

Making use of speed and maneuverability as much as it does heavy armor and firepower, the TX-130 Saber-class Fighter Tank can quickly strike at the heart of enemy formations while drawing attention away from friendly ground troops. You’ll soon be able to add your own fast and flexible repuslortank to your Republic armies with the TX-130 Saber-class Fighter Tank Unit Expansionfor Star Wars™: Legion!

Featuring 10 upgrade cards that allow you to outfit your Saber-class tank with a variety of pilots, weapons, and comms systems, this expansion is designed to offer your Republic army maximum tactical flexibility. In addition to outfitting it for battle, you also have the freedom to choose how your hard plastic TX-130 Saber-class tank looks when it enters the fight, including whether its missile pods are open or closed, the type of weapon mounted on the hatch, and whether or not this weapon is manned by a gunner.

Read on for a full look at everything in the TX-130 Saber-class Fighter Tank Unit Expansion!

Leader of the Pack

Both the Republic’s Jedi Generals and the clone troopers they command are among the most elite warriors in the galaxy and—despite their drastically different roles in combat—both groups can make use of the TX-130 Saber-class Fighter Tank in their own way. More than just a potent weapon, the Saber tank can be molded to fit a particular strategy, whether it be to provide mobile cover or slam enemy fortifications.

Particularly nimble for an armored vehicle, the TX-130 can quickly change position to strafe targets or disengage from them entirely, making it particularly useful in the hands of skilled pilots who can use this ability to reposition in creative ways. A single Veteran Clone Pilot, for instance, seamlessly works together with friendly clone troopers in the field to share aim, dodge, and surge tokens. A Jedi Master like Aayla Secura, meanwhile, supports her army in different ways, helping friendly units shed suppression tokens and issuing orders from the TX-130’s cockpit if the need arises.

Its exceptional speed is also the TX-130’s greatest defensive asset, allowing it to spend dodge tokens to cancel critical damage results. Already a potent way to avoid damage, a pilot like Plo Koon can push this maneuverability even further, using the Force to skirt enemy fire better than even the most experienced clone pilots.

These exceptional defensive characteristics also afford the TX-130 plenty of opportunities to show off its offensive capabilities. In addition to the twin lateral GA-6n laser cannons that can pummel targets from long range, the Saber tank can cut through enemies with a variety of weaponry. Outfitting one with a Twin Laser Turret further increases the potency of an attack, adding dice and the chance for a critical result, especially when its used in conjunction with the lateral cannons.

An attack with the TX-130’s twin laser turret can certainly punch a hole in a single enemy unit, but Republic forces are also accustomed to taking on legions of Separatist battle droids dispersed in smaller units. In these instances, it could be better to equip the Saber tank with a Beam Cannon Turret. Not only can this potent cannon target enemies at up to range 4, it can also sweep across the battlefield, whittling down the numbers of up to three enemy units.

The turret isn’t the only part of the TX-130 that can be outfitted with different weapons, either. It can also equip a variety of shells in its missile pods to alter its effectiveness against different enemies. No matter how well trained they are, it can be difficult for the average squad of clone troopers to crack the armor of an AAT Trade Federation Battle Tank. When supported by a TX-130 assault tank outfitted with some Armor-piercing Shells, however, Republic forces have a better chance of eliminating enemy armor.

Strike Quickly

Combining the speed, maneuverability, and firepower of a starfighter, the TX-130 Saber-class Fighter Tank plays to the strengths of the clone troopers and Jedi Knights who pilot them. Add one to your army and begin your assault!

Armored Assault

Despite declarations of neutrality, the Trade Federation is one of the Separatist Alliance’s staunchest military supporters and nowhere is this support clearer than when an AAT battle tank appears on the battlefield. Imposing in size and firepower, the AAT is the perfect complement to the Separatist’s massive droid armies.

With a powerful main laser cannon, anti-personnel lasers, and the option to add a deadly array of other weapons, these tanks often form the backbone of Separatist attack groups. Soon, you’ll have the chance to harness the raw power of these tanks in the battles of Star Wars™: Legion with the AAT Trade Federation Battle Tank Unit Expansion!

This expansion puts the might of an AAT battle tank at your fingertips, beginning with a beautifully sculpted, unpainted hard plastic miniature that can be assembled with its hatch closed or with a B1 Battle Droid operator on the lookout for new targets. Already a potent force in combat, eight upgrade cards invite you to load your AAT battle tank with a variety of shells, add specialized pilots, and outfit it with comms systems.

Read on for a full look at the AAT Trade Federation Battle Tank Unit Expansion!

Show of Strength

The Separatist military’s strength may be based in the multitudes of lightly armed battle droids it can send into battle, but that does not mean its entire strategy relies on this numerical advantage. Instead, the AAT battle tank provides the brute strength to decimate even the most hardened clone troopers and Jedi Knights. In this role, it provides an intimidating presence that quickly draws the enemy’s attention away from the battle droids the AAT supports.

The power an AAT possesses becomes apparent from the moment one appears on the battlefield. Its MX-8 artillery laser cannon is primed to punch through even the most fortified enemy position and the lateral anti-personnel lasers can sweep up any infantry units that dare to venture too close to the AAT’s front arc.

In addition to these potent onboard weapons, the AAT can also be outfitted with two sets of shells that can be fired in conjunction with another weapon to cause even more destruction. Firing some High-energy Shells alongside the tank’s main cannon, for instance, can be an effective way to soften—or eradicate—enemy defenses from a distance. If the enemy is truly dug in, however, some “Bunker Buster” Shells could be a good way to send them scurrying into the open.

Perhaps even more powerful than the weapons themselves is the array of options the AAT battle tank has for using them in battle. Not only can it combine two weapons into a single attack action thanks to the Arsenal keyword, it can instead opt to pepper opposing armies with rapid barrages of fire. This allows it to shell opposing forces and pile on suppression tokens that will rob them of actions.

Even with its complement of heavy weaponry, the AAT still functions in a fashion similar to other Separatist forces. Like B1 Battle Droids and Droidekas, its droid operators also possess the limited AI that compels them to press the attack unless they have a faceup order token, restricting their ability to position and prepare to fire. Fortunately, these operators can be replaced with improved versions like a T-series Tactical Droid that both usurps this programming and can be nominated as a commander when a friendly neutral command card is played.

Beyond the tactical droid, other pilots bring their own benefits to the AAT. An OOM-series Droid Pilot may not improve the AI, but it does integrate the AAT into the rest of the droid army, allowing it to use its considerable size as a link in the chain of droid troopers. To truly test the limits of the AAT, though, you need to turn to an organic pilot like Lok Durd. In addition to removing the AAT’s reliance on AI, this arms developer also makes his tank’s weapons output all the more suppressive, helping pin his foes in place.

Crush Them

Whether softening key targets from afar or leading the charge with its weapons blazing, the AAT battle tank is a stark reminder of the might of the Separatist Alliance. Add one to your army and conquer the galaxy!

Legion 101: Mechanics, Part II

The Basics of Combat in Star Wars: Legion

In our last Legion 101 article, Zachary Barry covered everything leading up to a battle of Star Wars™: Legion, including the requirements for your army and defining the battlefield you'll be playing on. Today, Barry is joined by L.J. Peña to walk you through leading your troops into battle!

Now that you have the basic mechanics in your repertoire, it's time for us to take the next step and tackle the strategy involved in a game of Star Wars: Legion!

In Legion, there are a lot of variables and thought processes to go through each and every step of the game. For example, each unit on the table only has a max of twelve actions per game. You should have a plan for how that unit will spend those actions. We are going to do our best to keep this simple yet informative—there’s no need to complicate it! The focal points of this article will be Command Cards and Orders as well as Actions, Combat, Cover and Suppression.

Command Cards

Command Cards represent decisions and abilities that your commander makes during the course of a game of Star Wars: Legion. Choosing which card to play may not seem like a difficult decision in the moment, but deciding when to play these cards is a critical part of Legion. Command Cards not only decide the minimum number of orders you can give out, but also which player gets to activate a unit first on that turn. You also have to consider when the right time to play a certain card is. Take Luke Skywalker's one pip, Son of Skywalker. Although this card gives us the freedom to activate Luke Skywalker when we want to—and could allow you to go first—he likely won't be able to attack anything on his first turn, and you won't get the full benefit of the card!

There are a lot of factors that should go into your decision making when using a Command Card. Players often use Standing Orders, the generic four-pip card that allows you only one order, during round one in order to keep your lower pip cards for later. But using a card like General Veers' Maximum Firepower on turn 1 to take a couple of wounds off a vehicle before it activates may be more valuable to your battle plan.

The following examples can help you choose when to use the generic cards you get from the Core Set. You generally want to play Assault early on, especially when you need to get a lot of orders out on the table to control when your important units activate. Push and Ambush are cards you want to play later on in the game, mostly in very important situations when you need to go first. Even though the generic cards do not give you a bonus effect in the game, these cards help you save powerful abilities for when you really need them. They can also serve as useful backups if you lose your commander. Command Cards call for a deep thought process; knowing when to play your cards to their full effect takes practice and a little bit of luck!

Orders

One of the major components of Star Wars: Legion is issuing orders to your units. A unit is issued an order when it comes directly from a Command Card, through an ability like the B1 Battledroid’s Coordinate, or by exhausting an HQ Uplink. Issuing an order to your units means you will have better control over when that unit activates, and can also trigger various abilities. If you do not issue an order to a unit at the start of the turn, all of your remaining orders are randomly shuffled in an order pool.

After General Grievous issues orders to a unit of B1 Battle Droids, they can use their Coordinate ability to issue orders to another unit of B1 Battle Droids until every unit of battle droids has received orders!

Giving your key units like General Grievous and Obi-Wan Kenobi orders is integral to the success of your list during a game. While they don’t always need an order, these pieces will often make a difference between victory and defeat. Being able to hold on to them until the end of your turn, or move a unit that is holding on to an objective when you need to is usually very important to success. It is also important to note that you can sometimes get perfect control from your order pool by issuing to all of your non-corp units and then your pool is only corp units, removing the randomness from drawing. This is actually a common Droid tactic, which L.J. will talk about in a future article!

Actions

As we mentioned earlier, your units will have a total of twelve actions per game. That is assuming they survive all six rounds without losing an action to suppression. This is not a lot. Getting every ounce of efficiency out of your army takes planning as soon as the battle cards hit the table and does not stop until the final die roll. One of the most important things to remember when discussing actions is the fact that there is only one action that you can normally do twice in a turn: move. You might think that double moving is not the greatest of things to do but you’ll be surprised how many times you’ll find yourself doing this to get into a better position for a following turn, or get a unit out of harm's way.

The following questions are things you can ask yourself: “Do I move and shoot?”, “Do I shoot and move?”, “Do I aim and shoot?”,“Do I move and dodge?” so on and so forth. The point is this: your mind will continually be asking and assessing the situation in front of you, especially if you play the new Clone faction with their token passing. You’ll always find an answer to your questions, whether those answers were the right ones, you won’t find out until the end of the game!

Combat, Cover, and Suppression

As the game evolves, shots are fired and dice are rolled. This is when decision making can get very complicated. If you start taking fire from your opponent, you will inevitably begin losing models and gaining suppression. You’re going to start losing actions, and the best advice we can give is: don’t let your mind—or units—panic. This is normal in a game of Star Wars: Legion.

As a player, you need to try and find the best available action you have remaining and take it. Sometimes that will be a shot back at your opponent, sometimes it may be a move to get behind line of sight blocking terrain and save yourself from taking more fire from your opponent. You might also be able to mitigate the effects of suppression through abilities, or good old fashioned dice rolling. Knowing how to move through cover so you can minimize damage from return fire, and mitigate suppression are other skills that take time to master. They will be covered in relation to the new factions in another article!

As your units take fire, they gain suppression tokens which cause them to lose actions and maybe even panic.

Combat during a game is often referred to as the “attrition war,” where the strength and effectiveness of your army will be reduced through sustained attack and pressure. The key during this time is to be the one applying the pressure or to stay calm while under pressure. Always remember: even when you feel like your back is against the wall, you can try and find a way out of it with your decision making. A common in game example is when your opponent applies pressure on you with heavy fire, they might take their mind off the objectives and focus too much on winning the attrition war. This might be an opportunity for you to sneak away with an objective and win the day.

Again, this is all relative to both players, the game of Star Wars: Legion, and the plethora of decisions that need to be made during the game. Win or lose, though, make sure that you have fun and enjoy this awesome game!

And that's it for the basic mechanics of the game! Join us next time as we begin taking a look at some of the decisions you can make with Star Wars: Legion's specific factions. In this case, we'llexamine strategic thinking with the Clones and Droids from the Galactic Republic and Separatist Alliance. See you then!

o The Limit

Announcing Two Unit Expansions for Star Wars: Legion

"I am not just another number. None of us are."
—Fives, Star Wars: The Clone Wars

In the infantry battles of the Clone Wars, the most elite troops often make the difference between victory and defeat. Possessing a wide range of combat skills, these troops utilize specialized equipment—and even work in smaller teams—to get the job done, no matter the cost.

Soon, you’ll be able to enhance both your Galactic Republic and Separatist Alliance armies with elite units that can turn the tide of any battle. Fantasy Flight Games is happy to announce two new Clone Wars-era Special Forces units for Star Wars™: Legion:

Already versatile in the field, these special forces units are also highly customizable, inviting you to assemble and deploy the unit that fits your style. Each of the seven finely sculpted, unpainted hard plastic miniatures you’ll find in these expansions can be built with a variety of weapons and gear, opening up a wealth of possibilities for each unit. Read on for more information about what to expect in these expansions!

The Best of the Best

The Galactic Republic’s clone troopers are some of the finest soldiers in the galaxy, but only the best of the best can call themselves ARC Troopers. Constantly pushing their physical, tactical, and strategic skills to the limit, ARC troopers undertake the most arduous missions on behalf of the Republic.

This also means ARC troopers are among the most flexible warriors in the Grand Army of the Republic, able to fire with devastating accuracy even while on the move with their JT-12 Jetpacks . When deployed as a two-man fire team, they act as a scalpel, scouting ahead to snap off deadly long-range blaster shots. As they do, eight upgrade cards allow you to tailor your unit for the specific mission parameters with additional weapons, gear, personnel and more.

No matter how you decide to use them in battle, you’ll find plenty of ways to customize your miniatures in the ARC Troopers Unit Expansion. In addition to multiple helmet options for every ARC Trooper, some troopers can be assembled wielding dual DC-17 hand blasters or with a powerful DC-15x sniper rifle. Finally, several troopers are highly posable as they blast into action with their jetpacks.

We’ll take a closer look at everything in this expansion in a future preview!

Advanced AI

While the majority of the Separatist Alliance’s battle droids are programmed to mindlessly wade into battle, that isn’t always the case. Cunning, stealthy, and deadly in close quarters, BX-series droid commandos represent a major step forward from their B1 battle droid cousins. Equipped with superior programming and built to operate independently, they often operate in lethal pairs that can wreak havoc on the battlefield.

Cunning, stealthy, and deadly in close quarters, these elite commando droids are known to lay traps and set up ambushes to catch their foes flat-footed before finishing them off with salvoes of fire. However deadly they are with their sniper rifles or E-5 blasters, they’ve even more formidable when battling up close with their deadly vibroswords or deflector shields .

Whether you use them to target key enemy personnel or plant deadly dioxis mines, the BX-series droid commando miniatures you find in this expansion are highly customizable. Several weapons options—including blasters, vibroswords, and a dioxis charge—as well as deflector shields give you the freedom to build the unit of commando droids you’ve always wanted while eight upgrade cards invite you to outfit them for your particular strategy.

We’ll take a look at all the ways you can use your BX-series commando droids in battle in a future preview!

Seize Victory

With battles taking place on planets across the galaxy, the Clone Wars will be won by the troops who can take on any mission anywhere. Prepare for any battle and seize victory with these Special Forces units!

Special Agents

Announcing Two Operative Expansions for Star Wars: Legion

"I'll take on any job...for the right price."
–Cad Bane, Star Wars: The Clone Wars

While clone troopers and battle droids duke it out on the front lines of the Clone Wars, agents for both sides keep the war effort alive on other fronts. A skilled politician swaying public opinion or a lone bounty hunter tracking down a high-value target can achieve just as great of a victory as the largest army.

Soon, two new players from vastly different arenas can test their experience on the battlefields of the Star Wars™ galaxy. Fantasy Flight Games is happy to announce two Operative Expansions for Star Wars™: Legion:

Relying on instincts honed in their respective professions, these operatives offer enticing alternatives to your standard battle plan. In addition to their inherent skills, both Padmé Amidala and Cad Bane are versatile units that can be customized to fit your battle plan as well as the look of your army.

Aggressive Negotiator

The Galactic Senate is no place for civility. Full of politicians squabbling for their own interests rather than those of the worlds they represent, it is easy for an idealistic Senator to be cast aside. Despite this, Senator Padmé Amidala continues to fight for the principles of freedom and democracy from the floor of the Senate and—if necessary—the battlefields of the Clone Wars.

When she does join your army, this Operative Expansion gives you plenty of ways to customize your unpainted, hard plastic Padmé Amidala miniature. Not only can you assemble the miniature with or without a cape, Padmé Amidala can also enter the fight wielding either her ELG-3A Blaster Pistol or an E-5 blaster she has looted from one of the B1 Battle Droids scattered across the battlefield.

In addition to how you choose to build your miniature, you’ll also find Padmé Amidala a versatile unit in the thick of battle. This spirited Senator can also use her leadership skills to help other Republic units perform their best and her three signature command cards only increase her ability to bolster friendly troops. Meanwhile, six upgrade cards can improve her mobility, augment her training, and more.

We’ll take a look at everything included in the Padmé Amidala Operative Expansion in a future preview!

In Control

Bounty hunting may be far removed from the halls of power frequented by Senators like Padmé Amidala, but the two professions aren’t actually all that different from one another. Both require grit, cold calculation, and more than a fair share of discretion to accomplish their goals. When the Separatist Alliance needs a task completed quickly and quietly, then, they turn to a professional bounty hunter like Cad Bane.

Willing to take on any job with no questions asked, Bane doesn’t adhere to conventional tactics, instead manipulating others to his advantage. Of all the tools he has at his disposal, none may be more effective at bringing in his quarry than the Electro Gauntlets that pin a unit in place and leave it open to fire from other units. In addition to these gauntlets, five other upgrade cards in this expansion invite you to outfit Cad Bane with various tools for his bounty hunting career.

No matter what cards you choose, your choices can be reflected in the hard plastic Cad Bane miniature included in this expansion. This miniature can be assembled with or without Cad Bane’s signature wide-brimmed hat as well as with his dual LL-30 blaster pistols or with a single pistol and one hand activating his gauntlet’s control panel.

We’ll take a closer look at everything included in the Cad Bane Operative Expansion in a future preview!

Aggressive Negotiations

War is not won by soldiers alone. Bounty hunters and politicians all leave their own mark and soon two of the best in their respective fields can join your war effort.

repare Your Troops

An Updated Star Wars: Legion Rules Reference is Now Available

The latest version of the Star Wars™: LegionRules Reference is now online! This update comes as players from around the globe are preparing for the World Championships at Adepticon 2020 from March 25-29 and contains the usual refinements and clarifications that come with a rules update. Learn more about these changes directly from developer Luke Eddy in the paragraphs below and download the new Rules Reference to see all the changes for yourself!

Hello, Legion players!

Whether you’re playing or tuning in to watch live, I hope everyone is excited for the upcoming Star Wars: Legion World Championships, I certainly am! Ahead of that event, and the upcoming release of new units for the Clone Wars factions, we’re proud to release an update to the Star Wars: Legion rules reference document. I’d like to take a few minutes to walk you through a couple of the important changes in this update.

As a game developer, a living rules reference is an amazing tool at our disposal. It allows us to add exciting new content, make necessary rules changes, rebalance existing units, and clarify interactions that the community has questions about. As the players, you reap the benefits of a constantly evolving and improving game experience. The strength of Legion as a game system is the simplicity of its core mechanics working alongside the complexity of its strategies and interactions; with this in mind, there are several minor but substantive changes in this update that will have a significant impact on the game, but might be easy to miss on a casual reading of the updated rules reference.

The two most important changes will affect two of the most popular units: Shoretroopers and Tauntaun Riders. Both of these units are hugely successful in that they play into archetypal strategies of their respective factions. Shoretroopers and their DF-90 mortars bolster an Imperial gun line–outranging their opponents and forcing them to cross a deadly no-man’s land while the Shoretroopers hold their position and take aimed shots.

Meanwhile, Tauntaun Riders take the fight up close and personal and are the epitome of the Rebel’s close quarters combat tactics, which we’ve seen previously embodied by units like Luke Skywalker and Sabine Wren. The strategies Shoretroopers and Tauntaun Riders employ is not an issue, but the effectiveness with which they accomplish these strategies, however, is too efficient. We’ve found that these units are punching above their class and, consequently, this update will remove the most abused aspect of each of these units, making them feel fairer on the battlefield.

The upgrade card Comms Relay has been errata’d so that it can be equipped only by non-emplacement trooper units. For anyone familiar with Shoretrooper strategies, this targeted change breaks up the coordinate keyword/Comms Relay order chain. This interaction was known in testing, but we didn’t anticipate the degree to which it would be efficiently leveraged in competitive play.

The other targeted change is an update to the creature trooper engagement rules—now creature troopers must withdraw to exit a melee with another trooper. They must use their entire activation and perform a speed-1 move; the only exception is that they can still perform free actions and therefore use abilities like Reposition and Relentless. While still possessing a powerful alpha strike, this means that Tauntaun Riders must carefully consider their targets and cannot freely move from one engagement to another. To make this change easier for players to remember, emplacement troopers will also have these same withdraw rules, meaning that all troopers must withdraw but those with a notched base may also perform free actions when doing so.

As astute players will note, these changes are indirect and target only specific aspects of these units; this is intentional as we try to avoid errata to cards—and especially unit cards—whenever possible. We will continue to keep a close eye on these units, and the changes in this update don’t preclude more direct changes in the future to the efficiency of the units themselves. In addition, Shoretroopers and Tauntaun Riders will be carefully evaluated later this year when we release our next competitive points rebalance.

Fresh Orders

While reading through the updated document, which I would encourage all players to do, you’ll also encounter many sections that have simply had their wording updated to convey a rule more clearly, without actually changing how the game is played. Amongst these, however, are several other quality of life changes that I’d like to specifically call to players’ attention as they’re minor changes but have a significant impact on various aspects of the game.

To further align the creature trooper and emplacement trooper movement rules, emplacement troopers can now reverse, and creatures cannot climb or clamber.

In additional to a distance of speed-1, units with the Detachment keyword must also deploy within height one of their parent unit.

Players can no longer “lock” a notched base mini in place (such that it cannot pivot) by placing another minis’ notches or base within the notch of the first mini’s base.

The Bounty and Secret Mission keywords no longer interact in any way; their respective requirements for gaining a victory token function essentially as is described on unit cards.

When a unit leader is displaced, they’re placed at speed-1 of their original position, rather than at range 1.

Players can now premeasure with a movement tool at any time. The skill of Legion is found in its strategy, and it’s not intended to have “gotcha” moments were a player misjudges distance after already committing to an action. However, to keep players from spending too much time premeasuring, only 1 movement tool and/or 1 range tool may be used at a time.

We’ve added an additional section describing the concept of margin of error and how players should resolve movement issues that arise from the physical nature of a minis game.

In addition to Comms Relay, two other upgrade cards have had minor errata. Commanding Presence now specifies range “1–4” (as opposed to merely range 4). And Wedge Antilles now simply allows a vehicle to pivot as a free action.

Lastly, the Team Battle rules have been updated to allow players to issue orders to their teammate’s units. This will allow Chewbacca’s command cards to really shine, as well as add another layer of strategy for the Clone Wars factions that rely heavily on being issued orders for their respective abilities.

I hope whatever faction or army archetype you play, this update improves your Star Wars: Legion experience. Thanks so much for playing our game and being a part of the awesome Legion community!

Download the new Star Wars: Legion Rules Reference now to read the entire update. As always, game rules, tournament regulations, and other support materials can be found on our Star Wars: Legion page.

On the Move

Announcing Two Support Unit Expansions for Star Wars: Legion

“Stay down!”
–Qui-Gon Jinn, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

As the Galactic Republic and Separatist Alliance attempt to gain a foothold in the Clone Wars, they increasingly turn to swift new vehicles to support their troops on the ground. More than just providing additional firepower, these vehicles are designed to work in concert with the soldiers they fight alongside, boosting their natural abilities.

Soon, you’ll have the chance to field two vehicles that add new dimensions to your Clone Wars armies. Fantasy Flight Games is happy to announce two Unit Expansions for Star Wars™: Legion:

Playing to their faction’s strengths, these units fully integrate with the armies surrounding them to enhance any task force. As you prepare to bring them to the battlefield, you can assemble the finely detailed, unpainted hard plastic miniatures in a variety of ways, making these units truly your own.

Read on for more information about these expansions!

Press the Attack

Built for speed across any terrain, the AT-RT Republic scout walker lets a single clone trooper bring an entire unit’s worth of heavy firepower to the battlefield. Capable of striking from unexpected angles and outflanking formations of enemy battle droids, the AT-RT makes a formidable addition to forces of clone troopers.

The AT-RT’s ability to handle difficult environments makes it a critical component of Republic scouting parties designed that engage with enemy forces before reinforcements arrive. The clone pilot’s Merr-Sonn RPC-2 Rocket Launcher helps soften any targets he may encounter in forward areas, but the AT-RT’s true power comes from a hardpoint that can be outfitted weaponry specific to its mission.

The Republic AT-RT Unit Expansion puts a single beautifully detailed, unpainted hard plastic AT-RT miniature at your disposal that can be piloted by two distinct variations of an Advanced Force Recon clone pilot. Beyond the pilots, you can also pick the weapon mounted on the AT-RT’s hardpoint, choosing between a rotary blaster, a laser canon, and a flamethrower.

Link Up

Swift scouting craft designed for coordinating allied forces and performing reconnaissance, single trooper aerial platforms, or STAPs, are typically piloted by B1 battle droids and kept aloft by whirring repulsorlifts. As they speed above the battlefield, their riders are able to relay important scouting information to friendly units. Unable to be piloted by an organic rider, these nimble craft avoid enemy fire through sheer speed and maneuverability.

Often deployed to support their fellow B1 battle droids in Separatist armies, STAPs can also relay information to other vehicles. When outfitted with a Command Control Array, a single STAP unit can serve as a vital link in an army's integrated network.

Within the STAP Riders Unit Expansion, you’ll find two beautifully detailed, unpainted STAP rider miniatures that featuring a number of customization options. Two different flight stands let you depict your STAP riders at different heights, while the STAP pilots themselves can be assembled in a variety of poses.

Stay Mobile

No matter what units make them up, the best armies come together to act as one. Bring your troops together and swiftly strike your opponents with these new vehicles!